


A New Normal

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Category: Smallville
Genre: And she's not very nice in this, Broken Bones, Dinah definitely is not, Explosions, F/M, Feelings, Fire, Hurt Oliver, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Lois Lane is smart, Lois is a Chlollie shipper, Protective Chloe, Protective Lois, Secret Relationship, Temporary Blindness, Whump, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:14:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24137950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: When an injury leaves Oliver temporarily blind, Chloe comes to a few realizations.
Relationships: Lois Lane & Chloe Sullivan, Lois Lane & Oliver Queen, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

By the time they’d finished round three, Oliver was finally tired enough that he collapsed back on the bed, shutting his eyes. “You wear me out,” he accused, though his tone was playful. 

Chloe took a deep breath and turned her head toward him. “Entirely your fault, Queen.”

“Hah.” He turned on his side, facing her, reaching out and draping his arm around her waist. 

She turned her head to face him and smiled, both their bodies covered in a thin layer of sweat. “Never got this much exercise before. Ever.” 

“Well, you’re definitely getting a good workout these days,” he teased.

“Much better than a gym,” she said, smirking tiredly as she turned toward him fully. “We probably don’t have much time before patrols.”

He groaned at that, burying his face into the pillow under his head. 

“You can take the night off if you’re too tired,” she pointed out, stretching slowly and groaning as she did. “I have to get my legs to work again.”

He blew out a breath and propped himself up on an elbow. “No, I need to be out there.” He gave her a smirk. “But maybe I should stay in and attend to your legs...” 

“You ‘helping’,” she air quoted the word. “Is no actual help at all. If anything, you will make it so much worse.” She smirked knowingly. 

He gave her a look of feigned innocence, eyes widening comically. “I don’t think I quite understand what you’re trying to insinuate, Watchtower.” He reached over and tickled her side.

Chloe laughed and squirmed away from him, reaching to hold his hand. “Stop, I’m trying to regain energy so I can get up.”

He laced their fingers together, grinning at her, eyes bright.

She couldn’t help but smile a little at him, but seeing that look on his face was pretty frightening, so she took a deep breath and sat up. “I need a shower and I need to get back to Watchtower.”

He wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly why she was pulling away. Why she _always_ pulled away right about now after their favorite indoor game. He let her pull her hand away without argument. “And I need to shower so I can get out there and start patrolling.” 

“I won’t be long,” she promised, glancing over her shoulder at him then taking a deep breath and standing up. She grabbed her clothes from the floor, then headed to the bathroom. She didn’t want him to suggest showering together, that would definitely be a bad idea.

Oliver watched her go, sighing softly and laying back against the pillows. They’d been doing this for a couple months now, and he’d thought that maybe, just maybe, her walls would start coming down. Even if it was just a little at a time. But they hadn’t. Chloe Sullivan had walls like Fort Knox around her heart, and he was starting to doubt anyone could ever get past them again. 

* * * 

She had managed to make it to Watchtower without much delay, having left the Clocktower while Oliver was still showering. He followed her there shortly after, changed into his uniform and made it out for patrol their usual time. So far, he had already stopped a couple of muggings and a drug deal with a high school kid, but the night was fairly quiet. 

“I think you can take a break on a rooftop, Arrow. I’m not picking up anything else for now,” she told him, eyes scanning the map on the screen in front of her.

“Excellent.” He somersaulted to the next rooftop and rose to his feet, moving to the far ledge so he could look over the city as he sat. 

“How are things looking from there?” She asked, leaning back against her chair when she saw his dot was still.

“Quiet,” he told her, arching his eyebrows as he stretched his arms above his head. After a moment, he smirked. “How are those legs doing?” 

She grinned softly at that and shook her head. “Better, when I’m sitting.”

He grinned, too, even though she couldn’t see him. “Think they’ll be okay in about an hour...?” 

“Really?” She asked, arching her eyebrows. Not that this was unusual for them; spend the afternoon together and then again after patrols, but today, he had been particularly mind blowing. She had no clue where he pulled all that stamina from. 

He chuckled faintly. “Most definitely. You’re not too tired, are you?” 

“Well, some of us don’t have all that preparation for physical effort, but I suppose I could use a massage on my thighs,” she teased, smirking and closing her eyes a little. Like she could say no to more of him. 

“Your stamina’s increasing all the time,” he informed her with a broad grin. “And I suppose I can handle a _massage_.” 

“Maybe that will help get me ready for more...” she trailed off, grinning a little.

“I can hardly wait,” he said, lowering his voice.

“Looks like we will need to wait a little longer,” she said, her voice turning serious. “A fire just broke out on 7th and 49th. Looks like a residential building.”

He was on his feet immediately. “On it,” he said grimly, moving back away from the ledge and taking a running leap to the next building over.

“Don’t jump on the building,” she reminded him, zooming in on the area. “You can probably get down from the pharmacy next to it, it’s right on the corner and the burning building is a couple of houses down, on 49th.” 

“Will do,” he assured her, assessing the situation and following her advice, leaping onto the roof of the pharmacy moments later and lowering himself to the ground. There was panic on the street as smoke towered from the tall building, flames licking out the windows of one of the apartments inside. 

“Stay calm,” he called to the people gathered around, staring on in horror. He hurried inside the building, coughing and quickly covering his face with his arm as he made his way toward the stairs.

“Tell me if you see a lot of people inside,” she urged, “I’ll call for back up.”

“Not seeing anyone yet,” he told her over the comm, still ascending the stairs. “Hello!” he shouted, listening for response.

“Get out of the building, Arrow. I can get Impulse to take a look around. I can’t use the heatmap to find people and it’s too dangerous for you to stay in there.”

“I hear someone,” he told her, moving toward the nearest apartment. “Sounds like a kid.” He quickly moved to the door, trying the handle first, and finding it locked. Without hesitating, he kicked it open. “I’m here to help you!” he yelled, coughing.

“Mommy?” The kid cried, hugging his legs to his chest as he tried to stay away from the flames. 

He could _hear_ the child’s voice, but he didn’t see him. He made his way down the hall quickly, doing his best to avoid the flames. “Stand back,” he called as he prepared to kick open the door that was already on fire. He kicked it open, as well, rolling into the room to the kid’s side. “It’s gonna be okay. Put your arms around my neck.” 

The little boy looked at him for a moment then wrapped his arms around his neck as he was told. “I want my mommy!”

“I’m taking you to her,” he promised, rising to his feet. “Just hold on tight and close your eyes.” His heart was beating hard in his chest as he made it back through the bedroom door and raced down the hall, out of the apartment, and down the steps, which had now caught fire, as well. He barely took the time to notice, his focus on getting the little boy safely outside.

“Tell me if you need back up, Arrow, it looks like the fire is spreading,” she warned, her eyes wide and her heart racing as she switched channels quickly just to tell Bart to be on standby. 

He made it out of the building and set the child down carefully. “Are you okay?” 

With a deep breath, the boy coughed, tears rolling down his cheek. “Want mommy,” he said again, sniffing. 

“Do you see her out here anywhere?” he asked, kneeling down in front of him and pointing to the crowd.

At that moment, a woman appeared from the already gathering crowd and rushed toward the little boy. “Thank you,” she gasped, kneeling and wrapping her arms around him. “Thank you for getting him out.”

Oliver rose to his feet once more, nodding. “Do you know if anyone else is inside?” he asked urgently.

“I don’t know,” she told him, picking her son up and standing too. “Mrs. Walker should have been home, but she was on the third floor, I don’t know if she’s still...” she trailed off, looking up at the flames. 

His chest tightened and he backed away, heading back into the building. “Watchtower, I’m going back in. I’m going to try and check for a Mrs. Walker on the third floor. Send Impulse to check the rest of the build--” Before he even finished his sentence, there was a loud noise, like a train coming right at him, and he was thrown across the room, head slamming against the concrete floor. 

“Arrow?” Chloe called a second after she not only heard, but _felt_ the explosion as it shook Watchtower slightly. “Impulse, I need you at Arrow’s location right now!” She said urgently, her voice shaking a little. “Arrow, check in.”

But he didn’t answer.


	2. Chapter 2

Chloe felt like she had been pacing the waiting room for hours. Thanks to Bart, Oliver had been changed and taken to Metropolis General in a matter of seconds and since Chloe got there, all she had heard was what Bart had been able to tell her: that Oliver had been alive when he brought him in. 

Bart had gone to pick Emil up once she asked him to, so at least, she knew Emil was in there with him and would bring them news as soon as he could. Of course the fact that he hadn’t yet was worrying her even more. “What is taking them so long?”

Bart looked over at her as he sat a few feet away, a worried expression on his face. “No news is good news, right? That’s what they say, isn’t it?” Even if he wasn’t convinced that was the truth in this case. 

With a deep breath, Chloe nodded a little and rubbed a hand over her face. “Yeah, that’s what they say.” She tried for a smile but didn’t quite manage as she turned to look down the hallway Bart said they had taken Oliver into.

He rose to his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. “Should we call the others?” he asked uncertainly.

She turned to look at him again then shook her head. “Let’s wait. Let’s see what Emil says before we worry them.”

He nodded, meeting her gaze, but only for a moment. Truthfully, Oliver hadn’t been in good shape when he’d found the man buried under burning rubble at the building.

Chloe watched Bart for a moment then held her breath when the doors at the end of the hallway opened and Emil came out. She met him halfway, her heart beating fast. “How is he?”

Emil took a deep breath, his expression grim. “He’s probably going to be unconscious for awhile,” he said quietly. “There’s a significant amount of swelling in his brain from the head injury he sustained, and he has three cracked ribs. In addition to that, there are a lot of other smaller injuries--cuts, bruises, and some first degree burns.” 

“Is he going to _make it_?” She asked firmly, her eyes wide as she purposely avoided glancing at Bart. 

“The next few hours are critical, but...if he manages to make it past the 24 hour mark, he’ll probably survive,” he said softly, looking down at the floor. 

“Probably,” Chloe echoed quietly, her stomach dropping as her chest clenched and she looked down too. 

He reached out and laid his hand on her shoulder. “We all know that Oliver is _nothing_ if not a fighter. Medically, I can’t make any guarantees. But personally?” He offered her a tiny smile. “He’s going to pull through this.” 

Chloe crossed her arms over her chest and nodded a little at Emil but didn’t manage to say anything else. She knew he was trying to comfort her but nothing other than Oliver being okay was going to manage that effect. She glanced at Bart and straightened a little. “You should call the others.”

Bart held his breath, then nodded, heading out of the waiting room.

She glanced over her shoulder then looked at Emil again. “When can I see him?”

“He’s in ICU,” he told her quietly. “You can go in and see him, but he needs his rest right now more than anything.” 

Pursing her lips together, she nodded a little. She wasn’t sure if it would be better for her to just leave for a while, she didn’t know if she could handle seeing him like he was, not with the possibility that she might lose him too. But on the other hand, she didn’t want him to think he was alone, that she didn’t care enough to be there with him. 

With a deep, shaky breath, she stared at the doctor and nodded again. “I won’t be long.”

Emil nodded. “Down the hall to the right. He’s in the third cubicle.” 

“Thank you,” she whispered, tightening her arms around herself as she walked toward the cubicle. She stopped just outside the curtains and took a deep breath before making her way in. 

The second her eyes fell on him, her stomach turned. He was hooked up to all kinds of machines, there was a tube coming out of his mouth, his face was mostly covered in bandages and so were his eyes, arms and hands. His chest was exposed and while she didn’t see any burns in the area, probably thanks to his vest, he also had bandages running around his ribs. 

Slowly, she forced herself to step closer to the bed, her eyes tearing up as she did. She wanted to see his face, at least, but all she could see was a part of his forehead, his chin and lips. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered to him, wanting to touch him but afraid of hurting him more if she did. “I’m sorry I didn’t get Bart to get there sooner, Ollie. I’m sorry I sent you there at all...” 

Her face fell and she shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself. “We shouldn’t have left the Clocktower, I--” she sniffed a little and shook her head. “I need you to be okay.” Hesitantly, she brushed her fingers slowly through his hair. At least it seemed intact. “I can’t lose you too, Ollie. I know I’m afraid to tell you but, you mean so much to me.” She sniffed again, brushing her tears from her face. “I need you to wake up so I can tell you that.”

“I’m sorry, Miss. I need to take some blood,” a nurse said, sounding apologetic as she stepped inside. 

Chloe jumped a little and dried her face quickly as she nodded at the woman and stepped aside so she could work. She waited in silence a moment, then took a deep breath. “Do you know how he’s doing?” She asked, her voice breaking. She knew Emil was going to try to comfort her, but this woman didn’t know her, or the fact that she was responsible for Oliver being in that building in the first place.

The nurse’s expression was sad. “I’m afraid not. He’s stable, but beyond that...” 

Nodding a little, she held her breath. “Do you think he’ll make it?” Because she had to try and prepare herself, somehow. Even if she didn’t think she could go through this again. 

The woman looked from her to Oliver, considering. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” 

Letting out her breath, Chloe nodded a little. “I guess I should let him rest and you work,” she whispered, looking at the nurse when she managed to pull her eyes away from Oliver. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The nurse nodded at her and moved closer to Oliver to draw his blood.

Chloe kept her eyes on him for a moment longer then left the cubicle, her chest tight, but she had decided she wasn’t going anywhere, not until she could make sure he was okay.

* * * 

“What happened?” Lois asked as she hurried into the waiting room, her face pale.

Chloe stood up when she saw her cousin and took a deep breath. “He... got hurt. Helping someone.” She chose to be vague until Lois was closer so she could lower her voice.

She held her breath, moving over to her cousin’s side. “As Green Arrow?” 

Her face fell and Chloe nodded a little. “He was helping some people out of a burning building and... he was going back in.” Technically Lois didn’t know about her or any of the others, but keeping her own secret was far from Chloe’s priority at the moment. Besides, she knew how much Ollie meant to her cousin, too.

“And what happened? Did he get burned?” She shook her head, eyes wide.

Looking down, Chloe nodded a little. “I guess the impact of the explosion sent him flying. He doesn’t have really bad burns but he has some and cracked ribs and--” she took a deep breath. “It doesn’t look good, Lo.”

Lois stared at her, looking stunned. “Are you saying that--are you saying he might _die_?” 

“I don’t _know_ ,” she whispered, realizing she had scared Lois but, maybe it was better if she prepared herself too. “They said if he makes it through the first twenty-four hours, he should be okay and he’s stable right now but, they don’t know.”

Her eyes watered, and she moved to sit down, sinking slowly into one of the chairs and blinking rapidly. 

“I’m sorry,” Chloe said quickly, sitting down next to her and reaching for her hand. “I didn’t mean to tell you like this, and... the nurse said she thinks he will make it, but I don’t know.”

Lois forced herself to take a deep breath as she squeezed Chloe’s hand tightly. “I need to see him.” 

“No,” she warned. She didn’t want Lois to see him like that. “Emil said he needs to rest right now. It’s better if we wait here.”

She looked down, swallowing hard. “I should...I should call Clark. He should be here. I mean, they’re friends.” 

Chloe pursed her lips together and nodded. They weren’t exactly friends but she knew that Clark being there would offer Lois some comfort. “Okay,” she whispered. “You need to go outside to use the phone.”

She forced herself to take a deep breath, nodding and moving toward the hallway, not taking note of the other people that had already gathered in the waiting area. 

With a deep breath, Chloe let her cousin go and rubbed her hands over her face. She had to be more careful with how she told people.

“Where is he?” another voice demanded from the nurse’s station. “Oliver Queen. Where is he?” 

When she heard the voice, Chloe lifted her head and stood up, frowning. “Dinah?” She called, wondering how the woman got there so quickly. Of course, Chloe had lost the sense of time.

Dinah turned and moved toward her, eyes wide. “Is he all right?” 

Chloe took a deep breath at that, wishing Bart was still there so he could be the one dealing with the people. “He’s still unconscious.” 

“Where is he?” she asked anxiously, shaking her head.

“In the ICU,” Chloe straightened a little. “Emil is monitoring him closely, as soon as he knows more, he will let us know.”

Nodding, Dinah moved past her and down the hall wordlessly.

“Dinah.” Chloe said firmly, grabbing the woman’s arm. “What do you think you’re doing?”

She yanked her arm away, giving Chloe a warning look. “Going to talk to Emil.” 

Her eyes narrowed right back at Dinah. “You can’t go in there. He will come out when he can talk to us.”

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Chloe,” she responded evenly, turning and heading away.

Chloe’s jaw clenched and she followed the other woman anyway. “I’m telling you the hospital rules, and Emil said Oliver needs to rest so you need to _stay away_ , or I will call security.”

Her jaw tightened, as well, and she turned to face the shorter blonde, glaring at her. “We haven’t really said anything, but Oliver and I are exploring things between us. I have the _right_ to talk to his doctor.” 

She was surprised by the words and despite her best effort to push away all of her emotions to get through this, Chloe couldn’t stop the surge of anger. “Exchanging a handful of emails doesn’t equal ‘exploring things’, Dinah. Now you will do as I say, or I will ask you to be removed from the hospital. I have the right to do that as his emergency contact,” she said pointedly. She didn’t know if it was true or not, but she was sure Emil would help her if she needed him to. 

Surprise flickered over the other woman’s face and she stared at Chloe for a moment. “Who the _hell_ do you think you are?” she demanded. 

“Ladies, is everything okay here?” Victor spoke up, stepping between them, his voice quiet. 

“She’s been _spying_ on us,” Dinah hissed.

“I’m doing my _job_ , Dinah,” Chloe said, taking a deep breath. “And Oliver is not only aware of the fact I read his emails and text messages, but he’s also perfectly fine with it.” 

“I’m _sure_ ,” she said sarcastically. 

“Okay, this isn’t the place,” Victor said calmly, looking at Dinah. “Oliver’s in critical condition right now, and I’m pretty sure the last thing he would want is the two of you fighting, okay? So try and take a deep breath and sit down,” he suggested.

Dinah glared at him for a moment, then moved to the waiting room, sitting down, but not looking very happy about it.

Chloe took a deep breath and rubbed a hand over her face then looked back at Victor. “Thank you,” she whispered. “She wanted to go in even though I told her Emil said he needs to rest and--” Chloe pursed her lips together. “No one needs to see him like this.”

He laid a hand on her arm, nodding. “I understand,” he said quietly. “And I doubt Ollie would _want_ anyone seeing him like that.” 

“I didn’t think so, either,” she agreed quietly.

“Why don’t you sit down?” he suggested, looking at her with worry. “I’ll go get you some water or something.” 

Nodding a little, Chloe took a deep breath and started back toward the waiting area. She wanted to hear from Emil too, to see if he had any updates. But for now, she was going to wait and make sure no one bothered Oliver.


	3. Chapter 3

Emil made his way down the hallway and into the ICU waiting room, surveying the people he found there. Chloe and Lois were in one corner of the room, Lois in between Chloe and Clark. Bart was slumped in a chair across the room, passed out. A few feet away, AC and Victor sat talking quietly, both looking tired. And in the opposite corner, Dinah was seated in a chair, gloomy expression on her face. He drew in a breath, moving farther into the room so they would notice his presence.

Chloe stood up as soon as she saw the doctor, Lois got up a second later and the others followed. 

“How is he?” Chloe asked urgently, walking up to Emil. It had been three days since the explosion and while Oliver was still stable, he had yet to wake up.

“Well enough that we’re moving him to a private room,” he told her with a small smile. “He’s out of the woods, and he should wake up anytime.” 

She let out a breath, relieved and nodded a little. “Can I stay with him? I don’t want him to be on his own when he wakes up,” she asked, not caring if people thought the request was weird or in Dinah’s case, thought she had no right to the position.

Emil nodded. “As soon as we get him moved, he can have visitors, and someone can stay with him around the clock.” 

“Thank you, Emil,” she said sincerely. 

“How long will it be before he’s in the room?” Vic asked.

“About an hour or so,” he told them. 

“Can I see him now?” Dinah questioned, folding her arms across her chest. 

Chloe’s eyes narrowed a little at Dinah’s question but she managed to remain quiet. She didn’t need to make a scene and Oliver didn’t need the negativity when they finally were able to be around him.

“Not until we get him into a room,” Emil said again. “But once he’s there, I’ll let you guys know, and you can see him in groups of three.” 

“We’ll wait,” Chloe said firmly and nodded at the doctor. “Thank you, Emil,” she said again. 

Dinah scowled at her and moved away from the rest of them, heading toward the elevator wordlessly. 

“I’ll talk to her,” AC volunteered, heading off in the same direction. 

“What’s going on?” Bart asked, confused. 

Chloe shook her head a little. “It’s nothing.”

“Dinah has a thing for Ollie,” Victor said quietly, glancing at Bart. “And AC has a thing for Dinah.” 

“Oh,” Bart frowned a little, cocking his head. “And who does Ollie have a thing for?”

When he asked the question, Chloe walked away. She walked back toward her seat and pretended to check on her phone. Not that she had reason to, not when everyone she knew was there. But she didn’t want to deal with that conversation, she just wanted to see Ollie, hopefully looking a lot better than the last time she saw him.

Lois moved over to sit beside her again, watching her for a moment. “Well, that sounds good. Positive. He’s doing better.” 

“Yeah,” Chloe agreed, dropping her phone back in her purse as she turned her attention to her cousin. “I doubt they would be moving him to a room if they didn’t think he was going to get better soon.”

“Can I ask you something?” she asked, quiet.

“Yeah?” She said, frowning a little.

“Who _are_ all these people?” 

“Oh.” Chloe hesitated for a moment. “Friends, and co-workers,” she said quietly. Technically, she wasn’t lying and hopefully, Lois would take the hint before she had to explain what she meant exactly.

Lois’s eyes widened at that, and she whipped her head back to look at the group that was still standing, talking to the doctor. Then she looked at Chloe once more. “Wow.” 

Pursing her lips together, she relaxed a little and nodded. At least she seemed to have gotten it, which was a relief. Now Chloe just hoped Lois would keep cool about this.

“Do you want to go grab some coffee in the cafeteria?” She arched her eyebrows. “Since we can’t see him for awhile yet, still?” 

“I... rather be here when we can go in,” she said quietly. “Clark might want to, though?”

“Chloe, you’ve barely left the waiting room since Ollie got here.” She frowned.

“I just want to see him, Lo,” she admitted. “After, when it’s someone else’s turn, I will go get coffee.”

Lois leaned over and kissed Chloe’s temple lightly. “I’ll bring some back for you.” 

“Thank you,” she smiled a little then took a deep breath and leaned back against her chair as she watched her cousin talk to Clark and leave the area. Not much longer, hopefully. 

* * * 

Chloe was trying hard _not_ to scream in frustration. Dinah had made a scene when Emil came to announce they could see Oliver and not only did she insist on going first, but she didn’t want Chloe to be there when she saw him. So Chloe told AC and Victor they could go in with her. Of course the second she got into his room, she didn’t plan on leaving anymore, so maybe this worked out well. 

But the three of them had been there for over half an hour already and what little patience she had was quickly fading away. 

“I think I’m gonna see what’s taking so long,” Bart said nonchalantly, sensing her souring mood. 

“I can tell you what’s taking so long. That blonde bitch,” Lois responded, folding her arms across her chest.

Chloe sighed and rubbed her hand over her face. “We’ve given them half an hour, I think we can go in and ask them to step out.”

“Agreed,” Lois said, nodding and leading the way as she headed down the hall. And if Dinah put up any kind of argument, she’d have to deal with _her_.

She followed her cousin along with Bart and Chloe was really glad Lois was there. Even if she didn’t have the energy to deal with Dinah, she knew Lois would. Especially after seeing part of their argument earlier. 

“Time to stop hogging Ollie,” Lois announced as she swept into the private room they’d moved him into. 

AC smiled faintly at her. “We were just leaving,” he assured her, moving toward the door with Victor.

When Dinah didn’t move from his bedside, Chloe couldn’t help anymore. “You too, Dinah. There are three of us,” she said firmly.

The woman ignored her for a moment, gently stroking Oliver’s hair and then bending down to place a kiss against his cheek. “I’ll be back soon,” she whispered, just loudly enough for everyone to hear. 

Lois rolled her eyes, her jaw tightening. “I’m sure he can hardly wait,” she said sarcastically.

Chloe’s jaw clenched and her hands turned into fists but she forced herself to take a deep breath. It was hard to keep reminding herself that none of them _knew_ , and that was her own choice. Still, she walked over to Oliver’s other side and when her eyes fell on his now uncovered face, she felt herself calm down a little. At least there didn’t seem to be permanent scarring to it, not that she’d have cared, but she knew he would. 

“Now you just need to wake up,” she said quietly to him as she placed a hand on his exposed and burn-free shoulder. 

At the sound of her voice, a sigh escaped him and his head turned toward her slightly. 

Lois blinked, looking at her cousin with arched eyebrows.

Chloe stilled, she glanced at Lois then back at Oliver and shifted a little closer. “Ollie? Can you hear me?”

“Chloe,” he murmured, voice barely audible. 

Dinah scowled, her jaw tightening. 

“I’m here,” she whispered to him, smiling a little and completely forgetting that all of their friends were in the room as she brushed her fingers over his cheek. 

Without saying a word, Dinah stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. 

“Awkward,” Bart muttered, arching his eyebrows.

Chloe glanced over her shoulder then shrugged a little. As long as she was far away from Oliver, she didn’t care where she was.

“We’ll... get going too,” AC said as he and Victor walked out of the room.

Lois pursed her lips, moving over to the other side of Ollie’s bed and looking down at him as she held her breath. She looked over at her cousin silently, arching her eyebrows again.

“Lois and Bart are here too,” she told Ollie quietly, she could feel Lois’ eyes on her but she decided against looking at her at the moment.

Bart approached the bed too and nodded. “You should wake up and chat with us, man.”

His head turned more toward the sound of Chloe’s voice, but his eyes remained closed.

“He’s responding to your voice,” Lois whispered. “Keep talking to him.” 

Holding her breath, Chloe glanced at Lois then nodded. Of course, she had to be careful with what she said in front of them, but it was good to see he knew she was there. 

“Emil told us you will be okay,” she whispered to him. “That you will wake up soon.”

Oliver’s eyes opened and he blew out a breath before they drifted shut once more. “...happened?” he mumbled.

“There was an explosion,” she whispered, her face falling as she lowered her head a little. “You were going back into the building to see if there was anyone in there still and... it exploded. But you’ll be glad to know that there were no victims in the fire.”

A faint smile touched his mouth at that and he nodded slightly.

She smiled a little too when he did and nodded a little. “Rest,” she whispered to him. “I’ll be here when you are ready to wake up.” Even more than before, she didn’t plan on stepping out of this room now.

“Okay,” he murmured, head lulling to the side once more as he sank back into sleep.

Chloe kept her eyes on him, her fingers still brushing his cheek gently as she glanced up at the heart monitor and saw the numbers evening out as he relaxed. 

“At least he looks like he’ll be okay,” Bart said quietly a long moment later.

“Yes,” Lois agreed, looking at Bart for a moment, and then letting her gaze shift back to her cousin. 

Reluctantly, Chloe pulled her hand away and straightened a little then nodded. “Yeah, he probably just has a lot of medication in his system still,” she told them as she crossed her arms over her chest to keep herself from reaching for Oliver again, especially considering the way Lois was staring at her.

“Bart, right?” Lois asked, arching her eyebrows. When he nodded, she offered him a smile and pulled some money out of her pocket. “Can you go grab us some coffees? Super-caffeinated and the more sugar the better.” 

Chloe sighed silently and shook her head a little. Lois was going to question her. 

“Hm, yeah,” Bart said, frowning as he took the money. “But it’s still my turn when I get back,” he warned before starting out of the room.

As soon as Bart was out of earshot, Lois folded her arms across her chest, as well. “So you and Ollie.” It wasn’t a question.

Sighing again, Chloe pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Only in the way that you haven’t left the hospital in days and when he starts waking up, yours is the only voice he responds to.” She smirked.

She rubbed a hand over her face and shook her head. “Can we talk about this later?” She asked, glancing over at Oliver then back at her cousin. He was still obviously sleeping but she didn’t know how he would react if he heard them.

“Oh, we definitely will.” Lois pulled a chair up closer, as well, grinning a little.

* * * 

Clark had finally come by and had managed to get Lois to leave with him to get some sleep. Chloe hadn’t heard from the others, but she assumed that they were doing the same. But she hadn’t moved from his room. She had nodded off a couple of times and even now, she was resting her head on his bed, but she stayed there with him. She didn’t want him to be alone when he woke up and she had to make sure he was okay.

His body hurt in so many places it was hard to differentiate one pain from the next as he began to drift toward consciousness. “Chloe,” he mumbled, reaching a hand up to rub at his face.

She stood up instantly, her eyes widening. “Ollie?” She said quietly. “I’m here.”

He rubbed his cheek and opened his eyes, confusion flickering over his expression. “What’s going on?” He rubbed his hand over his eyes.

“You’re in the hospital,” she said, frowning and reaching for his hands. “You probably shouldn’t be rubbing your face like that.”

“I don’t understand.” He struggled to sit up even as she took one of his hands. “Is there something on my eyes?” 

“No?” She frowned, brushing his hair from his face. “Are they itching?”

His heart began to beat harder in his chest, the machine to the left of his head beeping loudly. “I can’t see anything.” 

Her eyes widened and she cupped his face in her hands. “You can’t see me?”

“No,” he whispered, a hint of panic in his tone--something she’d never heard from him. “Chloe, I can’t see _anything_.”


	4. Chapter 4

Chloe was worried sick. Oliver couldn’t _see_ , or at least he had been unable to while he was still in the room with her. When Emil got there, after she called him, he had brought nurses in with him and they had rushed Oliver away to run tests and see what was happening. 

She hadn’t left the room since, not even to call the others, because she wanted to be there when Emil either brought him back or came by to update her. She just couldn’t imagine what Oliver’s like would be like if he was indeed blind. He would never be able to patrol again, wouldn’t be able to drive... he wouldn’t be able to look down at the city, something she knew he loved doing when he was up there on the rooftops. He would never be able to watch her like she knew he did, when she was pretending to work to avoid complications in their deal. He would never _look_ at her the way he had just a few days ago when they were in bed together and she had forced herself to pull away. 

With a deep breath, she opened the door and looked down the hallway to see if anyone was coming. When she found it empty, she walked back to her chair and sat down, rubbing her face in her hands and sighing. She couldn’t stop thinking about the panic in his voice and expression when he told her he couldn’t see. She wished now she had done more to comfort him while she could. 

A few moments later, he was being wheeled back into the room by one of the nurses. “Don’t worry, Mr. Queen. Our doctors are going to take excellent care of you,” she assured him. 

“I expected no less,” he responded, a faint, fake smile on his face.

Chloe stood up quickly when he got back in, she looked over at the nurse then back at Oliver, her chest tight. “All done with the tests?” She asked, wanting him to know she was there because between the nurse’s words and the unfocused looking his eyes, she was pretty sure he couldn’t see her. 

He looked in the direction of her voice, purely on instinct. “For now, yeah. I’m sure they’ll be poking and prodding me again in no time.” 

“Do you want me to help him on the bed?” The nurse offered, looking at Chloe. 

“I’ll help him, thank you,” she told the woman as she stepped closer to Oliver. “Do they know anything yet?”

“Not that I know of,” he told her, bracing his arms on the wheelchair and forcing himself to his feet, wincing as the movement jarred his ribs.

“Slow, Ollie,” she warned him, wrapping her arms under his and helping him up. “Lean on me.”

He let out a breath, leaning against her out of necessity. “How far’s the bed?” 

“Just a couple of steps to your right, I’ll guide you,” she said quietly, her eyes on his face as she moved with him toward the bed carefully.

He sat down on the edge of it slowly, reaching out to feel for the rail on the other side of the bed so he didn’t wind up overshooting when he laid down and falling on the floor instead.

She helped him even as he laid down on the bed, reaching to adjust his pillow a little higher. “Okay,” she whispered. “Are you comfortable?”

“As comfortable as a blind guy can be in a hospital bed.” 

Her face fell and she nodded a little. “Hopefully they will let you leave soon. Are you hungry? Thirsty?” 

“I’m all right, Chloe.” He pursed his lips.

Nodding a little, she pursed her own lips together but didn’t pull away. “Is anything hurting, other than your ribs?”

“I have a headache,” he told her, rubbing his face with one hand. 

Chloe hesitated then reached up and brushed a hand gently through his hair. “I can ask them to give you something for it, I assume they will bring you painkillers soon.”

“I don’t wanna sleep anymore,” he said, turning his head toward her. “I was out for days.” 

“I know,” she told him, rubbing a thumb over his temple. “They can lower the dosage, just give you enough so you’re not in pain anymore..”

Oliver was silent for a moment. “How long do you think it’ll take for me to get super-hearing now?” 

Chloe held her breath at that. “I guess you will just need to practice it. Did they-- do they know if it’s permanent yet?”

“They’re basically clueless, as far as I could tell. But I couldn’t see their expressions, so...” He shrugged.

“I’ll ask Emil when he comes by,” she said quietly. “Can you see shadows, or is it just black?”

“Not a thing,” he said flatly.

“We will figure this out, Ollie,” she promised. “What matters is that you’re _alive_.”

Oliver didn’t respond to that, just laid back against the pillow a little more. “Everyone else was okay, right? No one was in the building?” 

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “The little boy you pulled out was the only one in there. Mrs. Walker that the woman mentioned had luckily left to go to the grocery store. The fire started in her apartment. A mix of old wires and the oven being used as a heater.”

He nodded, relaxing at that and shutting his eyes. Wasn’t much point in keeping them open anyway.

Chloe watched him for a moment then leaned in closer, pressing her lips to his forehead. “I’m glad you’re still here,” she whispered. 

“Even if I’m basically useless right now?” His voice was light, but there was an undercurrent of seriousness there.

“You’re not useless,” she said firmly. “I’m sure it feels that way but you’re not, Ollie. You’ll adjust if this is permanent. You’ll be fine.”

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “How long have you been here?” 

She remained quiet for a moment then took a deep breath. “As long as you have.”

At that, his eyebrows furrowed, and he shook his head. “Chloe, they said it’s been _days_.” 

“Lois brought me clothes so I could shower and everything, I just didn’t want you to be on your own if you woke up,” she admitted. “And before that, they weren’t sure if you were going to make it so...”

He chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment. “And when’s the last time you ate anything?” 

“This morning,” she said quietly. “Don’t worry about me, okay? We just need to make sure you get better.”

“What time is it?” he asked, turning his head, and then remembering even if there _was_ a clock, he couldn’t see it. 

“It’s just past six,” she told him, pursing her lips together. “I’ll go get something when they bring you dinner, if no one comes by.”

“I’m not hungry,” he told her.

“Probably because of all the drugs they’ve been giving you, but you should probably eat when they bring you food. Maybe they will let you out early for good behavior,” she tried, smiling a little.

“I’ll be out of here within two days one way or another.” He shrugged.

“You will need to let me know when you plan your break out,” she said quietly.

“Won’t have a choice, will I? Can’t really do it without help now.” He pursed his lips.

Chloe sighed softly and shook her head. “I know this is going to be hard to adjust to, Ollie. But I will help you, in any way that I can.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I appreciate that. And I know you will.” 

“You will tell me, then? When you need me and what you need?” She asked, rubbing his head gently.

“I think what I need is...for things to be normal. As much as possible anyway.” He looked toward where he knew she was standing.

“It will be harder to accomplish that while we’re in here,” she admitted. “But as soon as you’re out, we will figure out how to do that. I know everyone will help as much as they can.”

“Everyone?” he echoed uncertainly.

“Bart, AC, Victor, Lois,” she paused, her jaw clenching a little. “Dinah and even Clark have been here. They are all worried about you.”

He sighed at that, rubbing a hand over his face once more. Just what he wanted. All of his friends to see him at his worst. Again.

“They care about you, Ollie,” she said quietly, taking a deep calming breath as she moved to sit on the edge of his bed. Careful not to hurt him. 

“Yeah. I know. Even Clark, huh?” Kind of hard to believe considering how much he and Clark had been butting heads recently.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “He was here because Lois called him, but he did ask questions and listened in for us when they wouldn’t give us updates. Well, when we sent Lois off for coffee anyway.”

He nodded absently, sighing. “I think I was wrong before. I am kinda tired.” 

Her face fell a little but she nodded. Even though he had been there all along, she missed talking to him. “I’ll be here when you wake up,” she promised, hesitating before sliding off his bed.

“You should get something to eat.” Because if there was one thing he knew, it was that Chloe was just as bad at taking care of herself as he was at taking care of himself.

“I will soon,” she whispered, leaning down and kissing his forehead again then reaching for his hand. “If, for some reason, you wake up and I’m not here.” She placed his hand over the nurse button. “Just press this and someone will come, okay?”

“Yeah. I will,” he assured her, nodding slightly and letting go of the button so he didn’t press it accidentally.

She took a deep breath and nodded a little, letting go of his hand. “Should I ask for the painkillers, then? If you want to sleep?”

“Would you mind?” he asked quietly, laying his head down on the pillow.

“Not at all,” she said quietly, pressing the button then waiting. “They will be here soon.”

Nodding, he let his eyes drift shut. “Thanks.” 

Chloe wanted to pull away, she knew he was trying to shut her out and even though it was because he was scared, it still hurt. But she also knew if she let him push her out now, there was no way she would be able to get to him when he needed her, so she didn’t move. She just stood there, running her fingers through his hair and waiting for the nurse. She’d talk to Emil once she was sure he was asleep.

* * *

But Emil had been nowhere. According to the nurses, he was in a meeting with the hospital’s board to decide what to do about Oliver's situation. They had been there for hours and that definitely didn’t sound good. 

Since she had promised Oliver she’d eat, she had gone down to the cafeteria and picked up a sandwich, but actually eating it wasn’t going to work, so she left it in the room for later. In the meanwhile, she had called and boys and Lois to tell them what was happening, but most of all, she had called to ask them not to come see him for a while, and to ask Victor to install voice controlled gadgets on every single thing he could think of at the Clocktower, including voice recognition for the elevator, even if she didn’t plan on letting Oliver go anywhere on his own. 

The calls hadn’t been easy to make, but at least Oliver wasn’t going to have to deal with them coming in and asking questions for now, even if they were just worried about him. Now she just had to sit and wait either for him to wake up, or for Emil to come by. 

Emil stepped into the room a few minutes after she got, his expression worried. “I put a rush on the test results.” 

Chloe stood up when she saw the doctor and took a deep breath, nodding. “Good.” She hesitated and glanced at Oliver then back at Emil. “What do you think so far?”

“It appears that the blindness that Oliver is experiencing is a result of the head injury he sustained in the explosion. He has retinal detachment, and we need to get him into immediate surgery. Waiting much longer decreases his chances of--” 

“Ever seeing again,” Oliver finished groggily, sitting up in bed.

She held her breath when Oliver spoke up, her chest tightening as she looked back at Emil. “But there’s still a chance he will, right?”

“Yes. It’s a very good chance as long as the surgery goes well,” he assured her. 

“What kind of chance are we talking?” Oliver questioned, rubbing his hands over his face. 

Emil glanced at him, and then at Chloe. “There’s an 85% chance that you _will_ see again.” 

Nodding, she walked closer to the bed and tried for a smile, even if he couldn’t see it, she hoped he could hear it in her voice. “Those are pretty good odds, and Emil will have help of the best eye doctors.”

“So what are we waiting on? Let’s get me to surgery,” he said, smiling faintly.


	5. Chapter 5

“How much longer?” he asked, drawing in a breath as he fidgeted in the bed.

“About fifteen minutes,” she told him quietly. “At least it’s not a surgery that requires a long recovery, so you should be able to go home soon.”

“I can hardly wait. Hopefully I’ll be able to _see_ when I go home.” 

“Ollie,” she warned, arching her eyebrows. “You heard what Emil said, it might be a while before your vision comes back, even with the surgery.”

“Might,” he agreed. “He didn’t say for sure.” 

Sighing softly, she shook her head. “I just need you to be prepared for the possibility of having to wait. I can’t imagine this is for you, but you will need to heal and it may take more than a few hours.”

Oliver pursed his lips, not responding. His expression was blank.

“Listen to me,” she whispered, cupping his face in her hands as she leaned in closer. “It doesn’t matter if it takes a day or a month. You’re not going through this alone, Ollie. We will figure it out, you will adjust for as long as you need to to heal.”

He exhaled slowly. “I’d try and kiss you, but I’d probably miss since I can’t see you.” 

She smiled sadly at that and leaned in, pressing her forehead to his, their noses brushing against each other. “Now you won’t.”

He hesitated a moment, then shifted, pressing his lips against hers and sliding one hand up and into her hair.

Her face softened as she leaned closer to him, careful not to touch his ribs and kissed him back as she brushed her thumb over his face.

After a moment, he pulled back in order to breathe, but he leaned into her touch.

Chloe took a deep breath and pulled away just a little. “Bright side of you being home for a few days and me playing nurse is that we don’t have to leave the bed for a while?” 

A grin touched his mouth and he arched his eyebrows. “Valid point.”

She relaxed when he grinned and nodded, at least that still worked on him. “We’ll have to make the best of it while we can.”

He nodded slightly, knowing they wouldn’t get a lot of their indoor game accomplished considering he had broken ribs, but he didn’t point that out. Besides, there were other things they could do. He smirked faintly at the thought. “Aren’t they supposed to come give me drugs to relax me before surgery?” 

“They will.” She kissed him once more before pulling back to sit up. “I guess they are running a little late.”

“Did uh--did you talk to the rest of the gang?” 

Chloe paused at that, pursing her lips together. “Yeah, I told them you might need some space before they come see you, that you’re adjusting to everything. They are worried, but they understand.” She smiled softly. “Bart wished me good luck since he assumed you’re in a shitty mood.”

He arched his eyebrows. “Have I been?” 

“No,” she said firmly. “All things considered, you’ve been pretty patient. Probably a lot more than I would have been.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine you dealing with this very well,” he said, voice light.

She grinned a little and shook her head. “I almost went insane with a broken arm that landed me in the hospital for a couple of days once. I think I’d have to be sedated to handle being here that long.” She paused. “Of course if I had _you_ to entertain me...”

“Then you could have handled it?” He smirked.

“Depends on how good a job you did,” she grinned softly, leaning in and kissing the corner of his mouth.

“I think we both know I’m pretty good at delivering,” he responded, reaching out to try and cup her cheek and getting her shoulder instead. 

Chloe looked down at his hand and picked it up, pressing a kiss to his palm then leaning her cheek against it. She’d missed this, their easy teasing, their banter and kissing and touching him. Especially when she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to do those things with him again. “You are pretty amazing at it.”

Oliver smiled, rubbing his thumb over her cheek and kissing her softly once more. “You’re pretty good at it, too.” 

She smiled and brushed her thumb over the back of his hand gently. “If only this door locked, I’d be able to help a lot more,” she teased.

He groaned. “Tease.” He shifted slightly on the bed, arching his eyebrows.

Chloe grinned and ran her hand over his exposed stomach and shrugged. “I guess I should let you relax for now, and then really work on having Emil send you home.”

“Speaking of relaxing, I’ve come to help you do that,” a nurse announced as she entered the room with a syringe. “You’ll be out in about two minutes once I add this to your IV.” 

Oliver looked toward the new voice and then back toward where he knew Chloe was still sitting. “See you after?” He paused. “Uh, probably not, but you know what I mean.” 

Chloe reluctantly stood up to make room for the nurse then leaned down and kissed his cheek softly. “I’ll be here. You’ll be done soon.”

He held his breath, chest tightening a little as he nodded. “All right.” 

“Okay, it will be just a little prick, then I will need you to count down from one hundred,” the nurse told him. 

With a deep breath, Chloe watched her and ran her fingers over Oliver’s hair gently. It would be so much easier to keep him hopeful if he had the promise of seeing again someday, but if the surgery didn’t work, she had no idea how he was going to handle it.

* * * 

Knowing that the surgery was going to be a while, Chloe decided to call her cousin to update her. Both because she knew Lois would want to know and because she had to tell _someone_ about it. Of course that had resulted in her cousin going “I’m on my way” and hanging up the phone, so now Chloe was waiting for her to show up in the waiting area, right outside Oliver’s room.

Which she did, less than twenty minutes later. She’d been doing her best to occupy herself at the Daily Planet, without much success. She couldn’t get Oliver’s situation off her mind, nor could she could her mind off the fact that he’d responded to her cousin’s voice when he was waking up. It was strange, though she had a suspicion about what was going on. She moved to Chloe’s side, hugging her and handing her a cup of coffee.

Chloe paused and held her breath before hugging her cousin and taking the coffee. “Thank you,” she said quietly and smiled a little.

“How are you doing?” Lois asked before sitting down beside her.

She started to nod then took a deep breath. “I can’t wait for him to get out of here.”

Lois gazed at her for a moment, nodding slightly. “I’m sure he agrees with the sentiment. He’s not fond of hospitals. Something else the two of you have in common.” 

Chloe looked at her cousin for a moment then shook her head. “It’s not like that, Lo.”

“Then tell me what it’s like,” she said, arching her eyebrows.

“We’re sleeping together. No commitment, no labels,” she explained, glancing at Lois then down at the coffee she had brought her and sipping on it. 

Lois watched her for a moment, a skeptical expression on her face. “Well, for someone who’s not committed, you sure have been reluctant to leave the hospital since he was admitted a week ago.” 

“He doesn’t have anyone else,” Chloe pointed out. “And I never said I don’t care about him.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “You did see all the people who were here within hours of him getting hurt, right?” 

“Yes,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “And they are his friends, but they don’t spend as much time with him.”

“And you do.” It wasn’t a question.

“Like I said, we’re sleeping together.” She didn’t look at Lois again, just took another sip of her coffee.

“Mmhm.” Lois nodded, taking a drink of her own coffee.

Chloe had to suppress a groan as she looked at Lois again. “Just don’t tell him you know, okay? I don’t want him to worry about this on top of everything else.”

“My lips are sealed.” For now anyway. She wasn’t going to be silent about this forever. “How long’s he been under now?” 

“He had just gone in when I called you, so about half an hour. It’s supposed to take between an hour and an hour and a half to get this done.” Chloe rubbed her face tiredly and leaned back against the seat.

Lois drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Guess we’ve got some time to kill then.” She leaned back, too, sipping her coffee once more.

Pursing her lips together, Chloe nodded a little. “He was hoping he’d have his vision back by the time he woke up from surgery but from what Emil said, that’s not exactly how it works.”

“How _does_ it work?” 

“From what I understand, they will try to fix the damage with this, but they will still need to wait and let it heal the injury on its own. There isn’t much they can do except... basically stitch it back together and hope it stays.” She swallowed hard and shook her head, her stomach tight. “And there is a possibility it won’t.”

“But the chances are good, right?” Lois asked, holding her breath.

“Yeah, Emil said 85%, I just don’t know if he was just saying that for Ollie’s sake or if he meant it.” She paused. “I guess I should look it up.”

“Emil?” she echoed, arching her eyebrows. “You know the doctor?” 

Chloe paused and nodded a little. “He’s Ollie’s private doctor. You know, for when he gets hurt and can’t really make it to a hospital.” She added the last part quietly.

Lois looked at her sideways, considering that. “Does that happen a lot?” 

“Not a lot, but he helps the others too, if they need it,” she told Lois, sipping on her coffee and wondering if she was saying too much. 

“Does that include you?” There was more than a hint of worry in Lois’s voice.

Chloe paused and shook her head. It wasn’t like her job would require her to go through Emil. If she did get hurt somehow, it wouldn’t be anything unexplainable considering she didn’t do field work.

“But you’re part of this...team of superheroes, right?” Lois whispered, voice barely audible.

Chloe hesitated again. “I’m not a superhero, Lois,” she whispered, looking around to make sure no one was staring at them. “I just... help them with information and research sometimes.” Clark would kill her if he knew she was telling her cousin all this. But considering this was about her and _Oliver’s_ team, she didn’t care much about what Clark would think. 

“Well, that makes you part of the team.” Lois looked around, too, lowering her voice even more. 

“But I don’t do nearly as much as they do. As _he_ does,” she said quietly.

She watched her cousin for a moment, then looked down at her coffee cup. “Hopefully he’ll be able to do it again.” 

“Hopefully,” she whispered, taking a deep breath. “I don’t know what he would do if he didn’t have this, Lo.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Lois said, sounding more firm and calm than she felt. 

“Maybe we need to.” Chloe sat up. “Because he won’t handle it well if he can’t be himself anymore.”

She reached out and laid a hand on Chloe’s arm. “And if that happens, we _will_ help him, Chloe.” 

Pursing her lips together, Chloe looked at her cousin and nodded a little but she remained quiet. Having Lois around would definitely help too.


	6. Chapter 6

It took a couple more days before Emil was able to release Oliver. His ribs were healing up pretty well, but his vision was still the same. Emil had told them that it should have improved at least some about a week after the surgery, and Chloe had understood that if it hadn’t by then, it wasn’t looking good. 

But for now, she was just glad that they were both out of that hospital and as she parked in the Clocktower garage, she hoped it would improve his mood too. “We’re here,” she announced quietly.

He nodded silently, automatically reaching for the door handle to get out of the car.

“I’ll help you,” she told him, opening her own door then walking around the car to help him up. Even though his ribs were better, he was still supposed to be careful when getting up and sitting down and putting pressure on them. Besides, she didn’t want him to trip.

He drew in a breath, sitting back in his seat and waiting for her to come around and help him climb out of the low-sitting car.

“We should probably take your SUV next time we go out, it will definitely be easier on you,” she said as she reached for his arms. “Put your weight on me.”

“I’ll topple you over,” he protested.

“I’m not going to pick you up princess style, Ollie. Give me some credit,” she teased. “Besides, if you fall on top of me, it won’t be the first time that happens.”

He smirked at that, arching his eyebrows and wishing he could see her face. “Touche.” 

She leaned in and pressed her lips to his for a second. “Come on, wrap your arms around my neck,” she said quietly to him, guiding his arms over her shoulders.

He did as she instructed, placing a kiss against her shoulder as she helped him stand up. “Thank you.” His voice was quiet as he stood still for a moment. “Now, my impeccable sense of direction says we need to head to the...South...to get to the elevator?” 

She grinned softly at that and wrapped an arm around his back. “Yep, see I knew navigating rooftops in the dark would come in handy someday.”

“Or possibly I’ve lived in this building for a long time,” he joked, keeping an arm around her shoulders.

“I could have parked anywhere though. Now why don’t you go ahead and go where you think you should and I’ll just be here to make sure there’s nothing in your way?” She wanted to encourage him to take control as much as possible, mostly because she figured it’d be good for his ego.

He nodded, leading them in the direction he believed the elevator was in and drawing in a breath. “How am I doing?” 

“Pretty good,” she said sincerely. “Just a little to your left and you should be able to reach for the elevator button.”

A second later, he reached out, feeling around for the button and finding it without issue. He pressed it, pursing his lips as they waited. When he heard it ding, and the sound of the doors opening, he stepped forward.

“You’re doing good, Ollie,” she told him with a smile as she stepped into the elevator with him. “Now I did have Vic make some modifications in here, so all you have to do is say your name and the usual password to activate the elevator.”

He frowned, worry flickering over his expression. “Isn’t that kind of dangerous?” 

“Not really, because it will only accept it if it’s said in your voice. Same for the rest of us, except we all had to get a different password since the voice recognition could be confused with similar patterns,” she explained.

“Oh.” He reached up, rubbing the back of his neck for a moment, before saying his name aloud, as well as his passcode. Almost instantly the elevator began to move and he squeezed Chloe’s shoulder lightly.

She tightened her arm around his lower back a little and leaned her head against his arm. “How are you feeling?”

“Glad to be out of the hospital.” He paused for a moment. “Wishing I could see you.” 

Holding her breath, she turned and kissed his shoulder. “I haven’t changed that much, you know? If you close your eyes, I’m sure you can,” she suggested quietly.

“Technically I don’t think I have to close my eyes anymore.” 

“True but it might help,” she told him quietly. 

He pursed his lips, nodding a little and closing his eyes. After a moment, he opened one eye and turned his head in her direction. “You’re...dark-haired, right?” He tried to suppress a smirk.

“If you’re thinking about my cousin, I’ll be very disturbed,” she teased, smirking. “Although I guess it could be worse, you could have asked if I had red hair.”

“Trust me, I haven’t thought about either of them in awhile now.” He arched his eyebrows.

Chloe paused at that and arched her eyebrows. “And what about another blonde?”

He cocked his head to the side, this time his eyebrows furrowing. “Another blonde?” he asked, confused.

She grinned at the look on his face, even if he couldn’t see her, she could see the confusion in his eyes. Not even on his radar, then. “We’re here,” she announced as the elevator came to a stop.

“What other blonde?” he asked, shaking his head as she led him off the elevator. 

“Do you want to go to the couch or to bed?” She asked, pursing her lips together.

“Ah, avoiding the question. That either means I should know or I don’t want to know.” He shook his head again. “Couch.” 

“Lead the way,” she told him. “And I’ll tell you all about what happened.”

“Something I should have known, then?” He led the way in the direction he knew his couch was in, stumbling a little as he forgot about the slight step down.

Chloe tightened her arm around him, her eyes widening when he stumbled but she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. “You do, actually, because you might still have to deal with it.”

He didn’t make an issue out of the slight stumble, either. He had no doubt it was going to be the first of many to come. Possibly for the rest of his life. That thought made his chest tighten and he barely heard what she said. “Oh?” 

She helped him sit down once they reached the couch and took a deep breath. “Is that comfortable?”

Oliver nodded. “Yeah, good enough for now.” 

With a deep breath, she sat down next to him. “You’re not supposed to bend down, do you want me to take off your shoes?” She offered.

“No, I think I can get them,” he told her, pressing the toe of one shoe to the heel of his other foot and managing to slide that foot out of the shoe. Then he did the same with the other one. 

Chloe smiled softly when he managed without a problem and pulled her own shoes off. “I’ll go get everything out of the car in a little bit.”

“How much stuff is there?” he asked, looking perplexed.

“Just a bag with our clothes, toothbrushes and shampoo,” she told him. “It’s nothing urgent.”

He nodded, leaning back against the couch cushions. “I didn’t think I had much stuff there,” he admitted.

“You didn’t.” She reached over and brushed her fingers through his hair. “But remember I told you Lois brought me some things? You know she’s exaggerated.”

He smiled faintly at that. “Yeah, I know she is,” he agreed, nodding and shifting closer to her.

Chloe shifted closer to him too and smiled a little. “Are you tired? Hungry? In pain?”

“I’m okay for now,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

She leaned her cheek against his shoulder and linked her arm with his as she reached for his hand. “Okay. I’m also supposed to tell you that as soon as you feel up to visitors, Lois is supposed to be the first one to get a call.”

Oliver drew in a breath, not excited by the prospect of dealing with other people right then. “Let her know I said of course.” 

“We can wait,” she told him. “Give you at least a couple of days to adjust to being home and then we--” she paused when she heard the elevator and frowned.

He started, looking in the direction of the elevator instinctively. He wondered if that would ever stop being his instinct. “Check the monitor,” he said in concern.

“Don’t move,” she warned him as she stood up, her eyes narrowing when she saw the monitor above the door, her jaw clenching. “It’s Dinah.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Oh,” he said, sounding uncertain.

“I didn’t tell her about what was going on, but I’m guessing one of the guys updated her.” She hesitated and looked between him and the elevator before walking over to the couch again and resuming her position right next to him. This was getting ridiculous. 

Oliver sighed softly, rubbing his hands over his face. He hadn’t really been expecting or wanting company yet, at least not outside of Chloe. 

Noticing the look on his face, Chloe reached for his hand and squeezed it. “Don’t worry. She won’t be here long once she sees I’m here. I’ll explain when she leaves,” she added the last part quickly.

He frowned at that, confusion flickering over his face once more. He squeezed her hand back, but pulled away when he heard the elevator doors slide open, knowing Chloe had no interest in anyone else knowing the two of them were--doing whatever the hell it was they were doing.

Chloe held her breath when he pulled his hand away and pulled her own to her lap, her eyes focusing on the elevator as the door, then the gates slid open. She wanted to make a comment about Ollie not wanting visitors, but she was going to wait and see what the woman had to say first.

“Ollie?” Dinah said as she stepped out of the elevator, pausing when she caught sight of Chloe seated beside him on the sofa.

Arching her eyebrows, Chloe stared at Dinah. “We just got here from the hospital,” she said and it took every ounce of self-control not to add ‘and he needs to rest.’

“Well, I haven’t gotten to see him in days, so I thought I’d drop by,” she responded, ignoring the tone of Chloe’s voice, her own voice sickly-sweet.

“Hey,” Oliver spoke up, lifting a hand to wave in her general direction.

“Hey, Ollie,” Dinah said, approaching them, then turning to Chloe. “You can leave now, I’ll stay with him.”

Chloe actually smirked at that and leaned back against the couch. “Actually, I’m staying here, I really have nowhere else to be.”

He didn’t have to see in order to sense the tension in the room. It was palpable. He definitely must have missed _something_ while he was unconscious. “How’s it going, Dinah?” 

“Better now that you’re home.” She moved to sit down on the other side of him and reached for his hand, taking it in both of hers. “I’m sure you could use _better_ bedside manners, right?”

He blinked a couple of times at that, shifting slightly and suddenly feeling very, very aware of the fact that Chloe tensed on his other side. He smiled faintly, giving Dinah’s hand a squeeze before pulling his hand away and raking it through his hair. “That implies people have had bad ones, which...really couldn’t be farther from the truth.” 

Chloe sat up when he pulled his hand away from Dinah’s and obviously looked uncomfortable. She didn’t know if things between them had gone further than a couple of flirty emails, but considering he didn’t seem to want to take Dinah up on her obvious offer, she felt like she could step in. “I don’t know who updated you on the fact that we were coming back today, but it seems like they forgot to tell you that Ollie really doesn’t want to see anyone for a while, at least while he adjusts. I’m sure we will have the whole team over once that happens, right, Ollie?”

He suddenly got the mental image of a piece of meat being tugged between two angry animals, and he swallowed hard. That didn’t even make sense, he told himself. Chloe had more than expressed her disinterest in anything between them but great sex and friendship, so that couldn’t be it. “I am kind of tired,” he said awkwardly.

“I’m sure someone will extend the invitation when he’s ready to have company,” Chloe said, smiling at the other woman. She wasn’t normally the jealous type. She wouldn’t have survived two days in a relationship with Jimmy if she had been. But this whole thing with Dinah was really getting under her skin. 

Dinah’s jaw tightened ever-so-slightly. “That would be lovely. Ollie and I have a lot to catch up on, don’t we, Ollie?” She reached out, gently squeezing his shoulder as she rose to her feet. “If you need me, just give me a call. You know I’m available all day and all night for _you_.” She smiled and headed for the elevator once more.

Chloe watched her as she left, waiting until the elevator doors were closed before letting out a breath and rolling her eyes, her jaw still tight.

“Well, that couldn’t have been anymore awkward,” he remarked, grimacing.

“You’re right,” she agreed, wincing a little and looking over at him. “Sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” he told her. “I guess...she didn’t get the idea when I stopped responding to her emails.” 

Pursing her lips together, Chloe looked at him for a moment and took a deep breath. “I know that... you’re free to do whatever you want but, she pulled something similar to this at the hospital and, I guess I just don’t have any patience left with her.”

His eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head. “Chloe, I haven’t been with anyone but you since that first night at Watchtower,” he said honestly.

Her face softened at that and she nodded. “Me too,” she whispered, not that she had to tell him that, it wasn’t like she had a line of guys out the door waiting for her. Or even that she _wanted_ any other guys at all. “But you know what I mean.”

“I know, I just...wanted you to know that.” He chewed the inside of his cheek. “I’ll have to talk to her and make sure she understands I’m not interested.” 

She wanted to tell him he didn’t owe her anything, that if he wanted to talk to Dinah, he could but that he shouldn’t do it for her. But those were lies and after everything he’d been through, even if he wanted to stick to their agreement, she was the one who usually kept him at arm’s length. So instead, she leaned closer and pressed her lips to the corner of his lips softly.

He was surprised by the kiss, but turned his head so he could kiss her fully, arms winding around her. He winced a little as the movement tugged on his ribs, but he didn’t pull away.

Chloe relaxed a little and kissed him back, but when he winced, she pulled away and smiled a little, “your ribs,” she whispered, brushing her nose against his.

“I’m okay. Just kinda sore.” He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, leaning his head against hers.

She hesitated for a moment then moved to straddle his lap, she kept her knees on the couch, though and her weight off his legs, then leaned in and kissed him again. “Better?” She asked quietly.

“Yeah, much,” he agreed, resting back against the cushions as he returned the kiss, one hand resting at her hip.

Chloe smiled and leaned her elbows against the back of the couch and deepened the kiss even as she kept her body away from his to avoid causing him pain. 

After a long moment, he slid his hand up her back, rubbing her shoulder lightly and then slid it back down once more, letting his eyes drift shut as they kissed.

She brushed her fingers over his hair as she did, only breaking the kiss a long moment later and smiling a little then pausing. It was easy to forget he couldn’t see her when he was acting so normally, when things felt like their usual routine, but usually after they kissed, he’d look her in the eye and smile and her chest tightened as she remembered that he wouldn’t be able to do that now.

He felt her tense again, and held his breath for a moment, frowning worriedly. “What is it?” 

“Nothing,” she lied, letting out her breath slowly to try and relax. “I just don’t wanna hurt you.”

Oliver cocked his head to the side, wishing he could see her face. It was so much easier to read her when he could actually see her. He rested his hands on her hips. “I’m fine.” 

Slowly, she lowered her hips to sit down on his lap. “Is this okay?” She whispered, brushing her thumb over his cheek.

He nodded slightly, squeezing her hips lightly with his hands. “Definitely.” 

Her face fell a little and she wrapped her arms under his shoulders. “I missed you,” she murmured.

Oliver couldn’t help but smile at that. “Yeah?” 

She smiled a little when he did and nodded as she brushed her nose against his. “Yeah.”

He drew in a breath. “I probably missed you, too, and just don’t remember it because of the whole unconscious thing.” 

“I guess you’re excused,” she teased even though her heart was beating fast against her chest. 

“Lucky for me.” 

Chloe watched him for a moment then shook her head. “I think it’s the other way around,” she whispered, leaning her forehead to his again and closing her eyes. 

“Might be a few days before we can play our favorite game,” he admitted, pursing his lips.

“I know.” She shrugged a little. “As much as I miss that, too, I’m okay with waiting if it means you are healing.”

Oliver was quiet for a moment, thumbs moving back and forth over her hips lightly. “Are you tired? I know you didn’t get much sleep at the hospital.” 

“I could lay down,” she admitted. “But I can wait a while longer too, I know you slept way too much in the past few days.”

“I don’t want you to be sleep-deprived, Chloe,” he said, concerned.

“Ollie? You do know who you’re talking to, right?” She kept her voice light. “I’ll be fine. I’m here to take care of you and not the other way around.”

Oliver pursed his lips, falling silent. “So then if I lie down, you will, too?” 

“That depends, are you saying you will lie down just because you want me to?” She asked. “I don’t want you to be bored, Ollie.”

“Don’t worry about me being bored,” he said sincerely, reaching up toward her face but pausing because he didn’t want to end up poking her in the eye or something. 

She leaned closer and into his hand and pursed her lips together. “Okay, why don’t we lay down and we can just talk for a while until you get tired?”

His hand cupped her cheek once he felt it, and was glad he’d spent so much time looking at her over the past few weeks. Her face wasn’t something he ever wanted to forget. “Yeah, that works,” he said quietly.

“Okay.” She kissed him one more time before standing up and picking up his arms, wrapping them around her neck like she had in the car. “Lean on me.”

“One of these times you’re just going to pick me up like a fireman,” he joked, standing up.

“I will need a lot more training from you to be able to do that,” she whispered, wrapping an arm around his back once he was up. “Lead the way.”

“Think the training’s going to have to wait, Professor.” He stubbed his toe on the table, cussing under his breath. “Do me a favor and just burn that table.” 

“Ow,” Chloe winced, hugging him to her side. “You okay? Sorry, I didn’t see you were so close to it.”

“It’s fine. I used to stub it all the time, even when I could see.” 

“I’ve done that on this one a couple of times too, but maybe, just to be safe, you should wear slippers while at home,” she suggested. “Now c’mon, you’re supposed to take me to your bed.”

He smirked at her choice of phrase. “Anytime.”


	7. Chapter 7

It had been six days since he’d been home. Not only had Chloe barely left his side during that time, but she’d been more affectionate than he could ever remember her being. He was both grateful and unsettled. Unsettled because he didn’t know what it meant. He wanted to believe that this thing between them had turned into something more than just good friends with benefits, but he knew how adamant she’d been about it not becoming anything more. Part of him couldn’t help but wonder if it was just pity. 

“Okay,” Chloe told him as she walked back into the room and crawled into bed once more. “Food should be here in about 30,” she kept her voice light even though every passing day it became harder to pretend everything was okay. His eye appointment was the next morning and still, there had been no improvement in his vision at all. She didn’t know if he realized how much time it had been, but this wasn’t good. 

“That’s good,” he murmured, not moving from his spot on the bed.

Chewing on her bottom lip, she watched him for a moment. “How are you feeling?” She asked quietly, brushing her fingers over his hair.

“Fine,” he answered automatically, shrugging a little. 

Her face fell and she reached over to his ribs, brushing her hand lightly over it. “How is that feeling?”

He winced involuntarily, drawing in a breath. “I’m okay, Chloe.” 

Chloe winced too and pulled her hand away. “Sorry,” she said quietly.

“It’s all right.” He pursed his lips, turning his head toward her a little.

She leaned a little closer and pressed her lips to his cheek, her chest tight. She guessed he did remember after all. 

“I don’t think I’m getting any better,” he said quietly, tone devoid of emotion.

With a deep breath, she brushed her fingers over his cheek. “They will need to run some tests, Ollie. We can’t know for sure.”

He was silent for a moment. “If the results come back that there’s no change, I’m going to hire someone.” 

“Hire someone?” She asked, holding her breath. 

Oliver pursed his lips. “A visiting nurse.” 

“You’re not sick, Oliver,” she said firmly, sitting up. 

He shrugged, not moving when she did. “No, just blind.” 

“If this is permanent,” she whispered, reaching for his hand, “you will need to give yourself some time to adjust, and it won’t be easy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it.”

He took her hand in his own, drawing in a breath. “No, it just means aside from my bank account, I’m pretty useless.” 

Chloe sighed softly and shook her head. “You may not be able to drive, or be Green Arrow again, but everything else you can adjust back into. And you can still help the team, you can help me.”

Oliver snorted, pulling his hand away a moment later and rubbing it over his face. “Right.” 

“It’s true,” she said firmly. “Like I said, you will need to adjust, and it might take a while, but you won’t have to do it alone.”

He sat up slowly, trying not to put any pressure on his ribcage, and then he leaned back against the headboard. “I just got back to being Green Arrow,” he murmured.

Chloe was quiet for a moment, then took a deep breath. “And do you remember what I told you when you found out about everything we did? That remains the truth. You’re still a fighter, Ollie, and there was a really strong possibility that you weren’t going to make it after that explosion, but you’re here. You’re strong and you’re healthy even though your body has just been through hell. You’ve made it through the worst of it, now you just need to allow yourself some time to adjust.”

His chest tightened at her words and he held his breath for a few seconds. “Guess I’ll have to get one of those dogs, huh?” he tried to joke.

“It might be a good idea,” she quietly then reached for his hand again. “We’ll see what the tests say tomorrow, Ollie, and then we’ll figure out what you need, but regardless of what it is, you will be okay.”

He wasn’t convinced of that, but he nodded slightly, sighing softly when the buzzer downstairs sounded. “Guess that’s our food.” 

“I’ll be right back,” she told him, squeezing his hand and standing up then vanishing down the hallway.

He heard the sound of her retreating footsteps and rubbed his hands over his face tiredly. You’d think it’d be easier to sleep when you had no visual stimulation to keep you awake, but that was apparently a misnomer. 

She came back a moment later and reached for the light in the room. It didn’t make a difference for him, so she usually left it off, like that made it easier to relax. “Do you wanna eat here or at the table?”

He froze on the edge of the bed. “What did you just do?” 

“I... went and got the food?” She said, frowning as she walked closer to him. 

“No, just _now_ ,” he said, rising to his feet, heart thumping in his chest.

Chloe held her breath at that. “I turned on the light for the room,” she said quietly. 

“I saw it. I mean, not exactly, but there was a change.” He held his breath.

She stilled for a moment, her heart beating faster and silently, she reached and turned it back off, her eyes on his face as she tried to figure out if he’d noticed. She had to know for sure.

Oliver nodded slightly. “You did it again, right? Just then?” 

Chloe grinned and turned it back on once more. “And again,” she told him, walking up to him one more time.

“I can’t explain it. It’s like I sensed a difference.” He held his breath.

“Like when you have your eyes closed and someone turns on a light?” She asked. “Even though you can’t see it, you know things are brighter?”

“Yeah, exactly.” 

“That’s _good_ , Ollie. That’s improvement,” she told him, reaching and cupping his face in her hands.

He reached his hands out, settling them at her waist and nodding, feeling hopeful for the first time since the explosion.

* * * 

He was waiting for one of two things: either a phone call from Emil about his test results, or Chloe to return with the groceries she had gone out to buy. What happened, though, was the buzzer on his elevator was set off. He stumbled over to where he thought his desk was, banging his knee on the corner of it and cursing as he fell into his desk chair. Gritting his teeth, he felt around on his desk until he found the button. “Yes?” he asked, grumpy.

“It’s me,” Tess told him from the other side of the buzzer. “Looks like you have finally changed your password.”

He pursed his lips for a moment, debating whether or not to let her up and then reluctantly unlocking the elevator so it could ascend to his penthouse. 

A moment later, Tess pushed the gate out of the way and stepped out of the elevator and into his living room. “You realize it’s customary to at least call into work sick when you can’t make it for almost three weeks, don’t you?”

“When have I ever done anything that’s expected of me?” he asked, arching his eyebrows.

“You’d think I would have learned what to expect from you after all this time.” She walked closer to him and looked him in the eye, her own narrowing. 

“You’d think,” he agreed, shifting slightly as he felt her approaching him. “What are you doing?” 

“It is true, then,” she said, straightening and placing a hand on her hip. “How you managed to keep it out of the papers is beyond me.”

“I have good PR people,” Oliver replied flatly.

“You paid the hospital staff incredibly well to keep their mouths shut too,” she pointed out. “Now what I can’t understand is how none of the so called reporters in this city managed to figure out what happened to you in the first place.”

The tone of her voice was making him nervous suddenly and he shrugged. “A couple of them know,” he said pointedly.

“I’m not surprised by that,” she admitted. “But Lois and Clark are hardly the best reporters in Metropolis.”

“Subjective,” he said with another shrug. “But they’re definitely the most trustworthy of the reporters in Metropolis.” 

“You would think so, considering the utter lack of headlines with your name on them,” she pointed out. 

He smiled faintly at that, then drawing in a breath. “What are you doing here, Mercy?” 

“Trying to figure out if I should pay you back for _shooting me with an arrow_ now, or if I should wait until you can see it coming,” she said firmly.

The smile slipped from his face instantly. “Excuse me?” 

“Maybe an anonymous tip and a front page would be good enough of a payback,” she told him tightly. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“ _Don’t_ insult my intelligence, Oliver.” 

Just as she spoke, the elevator doors opened again and Chloe came into the apartment carrying a few bags. “So I didn’t know what would be safe for me to make but I got--” She paused when she saw Tess standing there, her jaw instantly clenching.

Oliver forced himself to take a deep breath. “I did what I did because I was helping save Clark’s life,” he said honestly, rising to his feet, and hoping he could diffuse the situation before it got out of hand.

Chloe set the bags down and stepped forward. “What is going on here?” 

“She knows,” he said, sounding much calmer than he felt.

Tess looked over at Chloe then back at Oliver. “We will talk again, alone,” she told him firmly before heading toward the elevator.

He rubbed a hand over his face and slowly sat back down in his desk chair. “Great,” he mumbled.

She stared toward the elevator as the other woman disappeared, her jaw clenched. So much for them being able to celebrate his improvement today. “I’m guessing she figured it out because Green Arrow hasn’t been seen?” Chloe asked. 

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. 

Sighing softly, she rubbed her hands over her face and shook her head as she made her way over to the computer tower and booted it. “I’ll call Bart, ask him to come by and wear your uniform out for a few nights, make sure he’s seen. And you should ask your team to release a statement saying you will be out for another couple of months. We should probably also make sure you’re seen either having a hard time walking or in a wheelchair.” 

He nodded, sighing softly. “Yeah.” He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

Chloe glanced at him over her shoulder and sighed a little. She picked up his phone and placed it in his hand. “Voice control is on,” she told him before picking up the bags she had left on the floor and heading to the kitchen. She needed him to be a part of getting things done as much as possible.

“Thanks,” he murmured, rubbing a hand over his cheek as he held the phone in his other hand.

She took some time putting everything away, giving him space to talk to his PR people, then she walked back into the living room and called Bart, explaining the situation to him. When he agreed to be by that night, she relaxed a little. The sooner they got this done, the better.


	8. Chapter 8

Despite Tess’ visit, things had improved later in the day. Bart had stopped by and had picked up the uniform and not even ten minutes later, they had been able to hear the cops talking about Green Arrow showing up again over the police scanner. 

Not long after that, Emil called to say that while the progress had been small, it was definitely a good sign and that they should keep monitoring his improvement closer, but they had much more reason to be optimistic now. 

So to celebrate, Chloe had decided Ollie should help her make mac and cheese from scratch. She figured it’d be a good distraction for him and it would be nice to have something home cooked for a change. Besides, Emil had told him his ribs looked great too, so while he couldn’t over do, he was allowed to move around more now and he knew his way around his kitchen pretty well.

“You know this is one of the unhealthiest foods there is, right?” His voice was light and teasing.

“I’m sorry, did you expect me to pick the menu and for it to be a _healthy_ meal?” She asked, smirking.

He smirked, too, hearing the smirk in her voice. “Except you’re not sorry at all.” 

“Nope, and don’t worry, I made sure it’s a balanced meal. I picked up red wine too, that’s good for you, you know?” She teased.

He chuckled, nodding. “Very balanced, yes. Dairy, wine, and starch.”

“We can still order pizza if you prefer, it’s not too late,” she offered, setting a pot over the stove and walking over to him.

“Nah, we had that a couple days ago,” he pointed out. “Mac and cheese is fine.” 

“Okay, I have all kinds of cheese, pasta, milk and heavy cream, what else do we need?” She asked, leaning against the counter.

“A wooden spoon to stir with.” He smiled a little. “Should be the top drawer to the left of the stove.” 

“Okay.” She arched an eyebrow as she pulled the spoon out. “Think you can grate cheese without hurting yourself?”

“Possibly. I’ll give it a shot.” 

Chloe took his hand and guided him to one of the chairs by his small kitchen table. “Have a seat, we can leave the plastic around the bottom of the cheese so you won’t cut yourself.”

“Oh ye of little faith,” he joked, sitting down at the table and holding his hands out.

“Hey, I want you in one piece,” she told him, opening the cheese and placing the block in one of his hands then placing his other one over the grater. “Especially your hands.”

He couldn’t help but smirk at that. “Why _especially_ my hands?” he teased.

“I didn’t say _only_ your hands, but they are important,” she grinned softly, reaching down and pressing her lips to his. She definitely felt a lot better knowing that he would more than likely see again. Mostly because she knew how hard his life would be otherwise, no matter how much she helped.

“I didn’t say you said _only_ my hands.” He grinned, kissing her back without hesitation.

“I didn’t say you did, but you know what I mean.” She paused a little and brushed her nose against his. “How are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” he said quietly. “A little worried about Tess knowing my biggest secret, but...” He drew in a breath, letting it out slowly. “I can’t really do anything about that so I choose to ignore it.” 

“I wouldn’t say ignore it,” she told him, touching his face gently. She kept doing that because since she knew he couldn’t see her looking at him, she wanted him to know she was focusing on him. “But we can definitely wait to deal with her.”

“Not priority,” he agreed softly, leaning into her touch.

“You don’t think she’d expose you, do you?” Chloe asked, she had to make sure of that before dropping the subject.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “She already made the threat.” 

Her eyes narrowed a little at that and she nodded. “Guess we will have to keep an eye on her, then. I’ll ask Bart to drop a bug in each of her offices when he comes back tonight.”

Oliver nodded slightly. “I think mostly it depends on how much she decides she hates me.” 

Her jaw clenched a little. “Is she really immature enough to take it out on you with something as big as that?”

“I honestly don’t know,” he said softly. “I’ll give her a couple days to cool down and then I’ll talk to her.” 

“Okay,” she agreed quietly. “We’ll monitor her in the meantime, just to be sure.”

“Probably a good idea.” 

Before she could stop herself, Chloe leaned in and kissed his cheek before pulling away. “I have to say, Lois aside, you really need a better taste in women, Ollie.”

He paused at that. “Aside from Lois and _you_ , yes. But Tess wasn’t always like this, either,” he said quietly.

Chloe paused at that for a moment then shook her head. “Do I wanna know?”

“Wanna know what?” he asked, cocking his head to the side even as he began grating the cheese.

“What she was like,” she told him, filling a pot with water and setting it to boil.

He relaxed at that. “Probably not. It’s kind of unsettling to talk about exes in any real detail anyway, isn’t it?” 

Chloe paused for a moment, then nodded a little. “Yeah,” she answered quietly. “Or at all, I suppose.” 

Oliver chewed the inside of his cheek for a few seconds. “Not saying we can’t at some point, but it might be better to wait until I can see again.” 

“Why is that?” She asked curiously. She wanted to skip the conversation altogether since the last thing she wanted was to discuss Jimmy with Oliver, or anyone else for that matter. But she was curious as to why they should wait until he could see.

“Because as amazing as you are with words, sometimes it’s easier to read your body language,” he admitted.

She considered that for a moment and nodded. “I guess that’s fair, but are you afraid of how I’m going to react?”

“To information about Tess? No,” he said quietly.

“Then to what?” She asked quietly, turning her back to the stove to face him.

“If and when you decide you want to talk about Jimmy,” Oliver said softly.

Holding her breath, Chloe pursed her lips together and shook her head even though he couldn’t see her. And for now, she was glad he couldn’t. “There’s nothing to add to what you already know.” She forced herself to keep on facing him for a moment before turning toward the food again, wishing she knew what to do next so she could keep busy.

“Right,” he murmured, bobbing his head and returning to grating the cheese again.

She glanced over her shoulder and took a deep breath. “What do I need to do first?” She asked quietly. “Melt the soft cheese?”

“Yeah, and go ahead and add the butter, too,” he told her.

“Okay,” she agreed quietly. “Do you want to start on the wine while we do this?”

“Sure. Though maybe we should open that bottle of single malt under the sink.” His voice was lighter this time.

“That sounds good too,” she said, relaxing a little. “I guess we can save the wine for three hours for now, when I manage to burn the food and we have to order something else.”

“Oh, mixing the two will not be a good idea,” he said with a slight chuckle. 

“Don’t worry, Ollie. I will hold your hair back if you get sick,” she teased, pulling the bottle from under the sink and setting it over the table.

He smirked at that. “Yeah, that’s what I want you to see. Me barfing my guts up.” 

“I have no doubt you would do the same for me.” She set two glasses on the table then reached to open the bottle.

“Absolutely,” he said without hesitation. “It’s just one of the things you do for someone you--” He paused, swallowing hard. “Care about.” 

Chloe held her breath and watched him for a moment, her stomach clenching. “Yeah,” she agreed quietly, pouring them each a glass of scotch. “I think you’re good on the cheese.”

“You sure it’s enough? Can’t really see how much I’ve got,” he joked.

“I have no idea if it’s enough,” she admitted, pulling the cheese away from him and pushing a glass against his hand instead. “But it looks good to me.”

He took the glass and drank a small sip before carefully setting it down on the table. 

Chloe picked up her own glass and sipped on it then nodded. “Okay, tell me what to do.”

“Is the soft cheese and butter melted?” he asked, arching his eyebrows.

She stirred it for a moment then nodded. “Yeah, looks pretty creamy.”

“Go ahead and add the cheese I just grated,” he told her.

“Okay,” she said, doing so and stirring it in. “It smells good, hopefully I won’t poison you.”

Oliver chuckled softly. “You won’t. Unless the cheese is bad.” 

“Well, if it is, we can sue the store for a lot of money considering I just bought it today,” she said quietly, glancing at him over her shoulder. She didn’t really like seeing him just sitting like that while she did things, it felt wrong, but she knew it was better for him to take it easy for now.

He nodded, reaching out and picking up his glass once more, taking a drink and sighing softly.

“You okay?” She asked quietly as she glanced over her shoulder.

He smiled faintly at the question. He was pretty sure she’d asked him that thirty times in the last few hours.

“What?” She asked, frowning a little at the look on his face.

“You keep asking,” he said softly, turning his head to look in her direction.

“Oh. Well, I just want to make sure?” She shrugged a little. “You might as well get used to it until you’re back to normal.”

“And what if this is my new normal?” he asked quietly.

Her chest tightened a little at that. It was a smaller possibility, but it was still there. “Then until you get used to this normal.”

He was silent for a moment. “Is this something you’ll be able to get used to?” 

Chloe paused at that and turned toward him once again, then stepped closer. “You almost _died_ , Ollie,” she whispered to him. “If this is permanent, even if it will require adjustment from both of us, I will take it over the alternative without blinking an eye.”

He smiled faintly at that, setting his glass down once more and rising to his feet. 

She arched her eyebrows when he stood up but didn’t move, wanting to see where he would go first.

He hesitated, then opened his arms silently, holding his breath.

Her face softened and she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him carefully not to add too much pressure to his ribs.

Oliver exhaled as he hugged her back, resting his chin atop her head and letting his eyes close. “Thank you,” he murmured.

She pressed her lips to his chest and closed her eyes, sighing softly. “I’m not turning my back on you over this.”

“You’ve never turned your back on me at all.” His chest tightened as he realized he couldn’t say the same.

Chloe lifted her head and kissed his jaw softly. “You’ll be fine, no matter how things turn out.”

Oliver hugged her a little tighter. “I’m sorry.” His voice was almost inaudible.

She frowned at that and shook her head a little. “What are you sorry about?”

“That I’ve been a jackass to you.” He let out a breath, wishing he could see her so that he could make sure that she understood how deeply he meant that.

“Oliver,” she warned, shaking her head. “You haven’t been, you have been anything but a jackass.” She had no idea where that was coming from, but the last thing she wanted was for him to feel guilty about something that he thought he had done.

“Maybe not lately,” he said softly.

She sighed softly, understanding now what he was talking about then reaching to cup his cheek. “There was a lot we didn’t see before,” she whispered. “A lot of times we should have listened to each other but we didn’t.” And he most certainly wasn’t the only one guilty of that. “There is no point thinking about it _now_. We’re here now.”

“I just needed to apologize. Because I don’t think that I ever did.” He reached up, covering her hand with his own. He turned his head, kissing her knuckles. 

“And if I tell you apology accepted, will you stop blaming yourself for it?” She asked quietly, wrapping her fingers around his hand.

He squeezed her hand gently, swallowing hard. “Yeah.” 

“Then apology accepted,” she whispered. “And for the record, I’m sorry too.”

“You really don’t owe me an apology for anything,” he said honestly. “But if you’ll stop blaming yourself at all, apology accepted.” 

“Thank you,” she whispered, before tiptoeing and pressing her lips to his. 

He kissed her back, carefully lifting a hand to cup her cheek and leaning his head against hers. 

Chloe deepened the kiss a little more as she reached to cup the back of his neck. 

He smiled faintly against her mouth and then brushed his nose over hers. “You’re one of a kind. You know that, right?” 

She let out her breath and shrugged a little. “So I’ve heard, still trying to decide if that’s a good thing or not.”

“It is,” he said quietly.

Smiling softly, she brushed her nose to his. “As long as you think so.”

“My opinion’s the only one that matters?” He grinned brightly at that.

Chloe cocked her head, her chest tightening at the look on his face. Normally, she would try to find something snarky to say, to mask the truth in his statement, but she just couldn’t bring herself to when this was the happiest look she had seen on his face in days. “It might be,” she whispered, not wanting to freak him out with her sincerity either. 

“Hmm...you know. Macaroni and cheese is sounding much less appealing at the moment,” he informed her.

“I really couldn’t agree more,” she whispered to him, grinning a little and brushing her lips to his. “But before we get distracted by something else, are you sure you’re well enough?”

“I feel pretty good right now,” Oliver assured her, nodding and kissing her.

Chloe kissed him back deeply for a moment then pulled away. “Guess my cooking experiment will have to wait,” she told him, pulling away just a little to turn the stove off, making sure nothing had burned as she did before turning to face him again.

“Plenty of time for cooking later,” he agreed, reaching for her once more.

“And if this is your plan for getting out of eating that, I will not complain at all,” she said with a smirk as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Oliver simply laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

He woke slowly that morning. Since he had nowhere to be, there had been no reason to set the alarm and he’d been, with Chloe’s insistence, allowing himself to just sleep as long as his body needed it. It had been a nice change. He drew in a breath, letting it out slowly as he rolled onto his side, wrapping his arm around her waist as she lay beside him in the bed. He buried his face against her hair, opening his eyes and stilling when he saw blurry, but definitely blonde, hair. He held his breath, sitting up quickly and realizing he could also see her shirt. Sort of. It was dark blue. He couldn’t read the words on it, but he could _see_ it. 

“Wake up,” he said urgently.

Chloe stirred in her sleep and frowned a little, squinting as she looked at him over her shoulder. “What’s wrong?” She asked, instantly moving to sit up.

“You’re blonde,” he whispered, eyes wide.

“Yeah?” She whispered back, turning more to face him. “Did you dream I wasn’t, or something?”

“Your shirt is blue.” He held his breath, waiting for realization to dawn on her.

“It is but--” Chloe paused, her eyes widening as she stared at him. “You can see it?”

“I can’t read the writing. But I can see it’s blue.” 

“But you can see,” she murmured, cupping his face in her hands. “And you can see me okay?”

Oliver grinned. “You’re a bit blurry, but I can see you,” he confirmed, leaning in and kissing her.

Chloe kissed him back instantly, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him as a wave of relief ran through her. In the last few days, he had been able to see shadows, like a blurry darker form in front of the light when she’d been coming out of the bathroom one night and the light had been on behind her. Emil told them that was a good improvement, but this, he could actually _see_.

“God, I’ve missed looking at you,” he whispered, as he pulled away to look at her. 

She smiled and looked back at him as she leaned her forehead against his. “I’ve missed seeing this look on your face when you do.”

He reached up, cupping her face. “You’re so beautiful.” He kissed the tip of her nose.

Her eyes teared slightly and she took a deep breath. “We need to call Emil, make sure we’re doing everything we need to do to protect your eyes.”

Oliver drew in a breath, nodding, and kissing the corner of her mouth lightly. “Good idea.” 

She turned her head and kissed him again, firmly this time as she shifted closer to him once more. It was a huge relief to see him improving.

He rubbed his thumbs over her cheeks gently as she moved closer to him, and one hand moved so he could wrap his arm around her waist and pull her into his lap.

Chloe straddled him without hesitation and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly as they kissed. The words she’d been trying to ignore popping up in her head again, so she deepened the kiss to keep herself quiet.

He threaded one hand in her hair, slowly deepening the kiss until they were both breathless. Then he leaned his forehead against hers, trying to catch his breath. “God I love you,” he murmured.

She kept her eyes closed for a moment, her chest tightening then she took a deep breath and held his gaze. “I love you, too,” she whispered, sliding a hand into his hair.

He stilled, gazing at her. “Really?” He held his breath.

Chloe smiled, her eyes tearing up once again as she nodded. “How could I not?”

He couldn’t help but grin at that. “True. Very true. How could you resist my charms?” he teased, kissing her again. 

She grinned against his lips and shook her head as she pulled back. “I don’t know if it’s so much about your charms.”

“No?” He tucked some hair behind her ear, cupping her cheek in one hand again.

“No, I mean, maybe a small part.” She grinned softly.

He leaned in and kissed her softly. “I love you. I have for awhile,” he admitted. “I was just afraid of saying it before.” 

She brushed her finger over his cheek and shook her head a little. “I have too, I guess I was mostly determined to pretend otherwise.” 

“We were fooling ourselves from the start,” he said softly.

“I guess so,” she whispered, shrugging a little. “But the truth is, we will never find other people who understand us as well as we do each other.”

“No, we won’t,” he agreed quietly.

“And.” She looked down and took a deep breath. “With the lives we lead, I guess it would be stupid to waste time and pretend like we don’t feel the way we feel.”

“And I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone else in my life.” He gazed at her, still stunned he could actually see her.

Her chest tightened at that and she nodded a little. “I was so afraid I was never going to get to tell you how I felt,” she whispered.

He held his breath and kissed her softly. “Well, you get to. As often as you want.” 

Chloe kissed him firmly once again then pulled back and took a deep breath. “I love you,” she whispered, relaxing a little. It definitely felt nice to be able to say it.

Oliver grinned. “I love you, too.” 

She cupped his face in her hands and took a deep breath. “So you’re just seeing blurry?” She asked, brushing her thumb against his cheek. “Like if you needed glasses?”

“Maybe, yeah. Not sure. I’ve never needed glasses.” 

“Well you might look sexy wearing them,” she teased, kissing the corner of his mouth.

He arched his eyebrows at that. “You think so?” He kissed her lightly.

“You can pull off green tights, pretty sure you can pull off anything,” she said with a grin.

“They’re not tights,” he objected.

Chloe smirked at that, amused. “They aren’t?”

“ _No._ ” 

She laughed and nodded. “Green leather pants, then?”

“Better.” He nodded, too.

“I probably should make it up to you, for making such a terrible mistake,” she said quietly, lowering her head and kissing his neck.

“Not going to argue with that logic,” he agreed, starting to close his eyes, then deciding not to. He’d been without his sight for too long.

* * *

This should, hopefully be Oliver’s last appointment for a while. His vision wasn’t a hundred percent yet, but he could already see almost normal. The doctor had told him it was at about 80%, which was a lot better than a lot of people who wore glasses had. Still, he had to be careful for a while. No bright lights, no sunshine directly in his eye and most importantly, he had to be incredibly careful not to hit his head in any way, and that meant no patrolling, but it was just for _now_. Soon enough, he would be able to get back out there and that should be a big improvement on both his ego and mood. 

“That was a lot better than I thought,” she admitted as she parked the car in the Clocktower’s garage. He still should probably wait a while before driving, too.

Oliver nodded. “Even if I’m not quite used to these.” He adjusted the glasses on his face.

“You’ll get used to them,” she promised, grinning a little. “You only really need them outside.”

“Are they sexy?” he teased.

“Absolutely,” she teased, grinning and kissing him.

“As long as you think so, that’s all that matters to me.” He grinned, too, returning the kiss.

“Come on.” She grinned at him and arched her eyebrows. “Let’s get back upstairs, you’ve been out for three whole hours,” she teased.

“It’s a new record.” He smirked, reaching for the door handle.

“I know,” she agreed. “But this time you can even walk back up by yourself.” She got out of the car too and locked it.

He drew in a breath, climbing out of the car and moving around the car, holding his hand out to her wordlessly. 

She took her head and squeezed it, smiling softly at him. “Much better, isn’t it?”

“Much,” he agreed quietly, walking with her to the elevator and pressing the button.

“Good.” She kissed his cheek as she walked into the elevator with him and smiled up at him. She really had been hoping he’d be in a good mood.

“You’re in a good mood,” he noted, smiling softly.

“I guess it’s nice to see things going back to normal? Or... kind of normal, anyway.”

Oliver nodded, lifting her hand to his mouth and kissing her knuckles. “Our kind of normal.” 

“Our new kind of normal,” she corrected him, squeezing his hand and smiling.

“Point,” he agreed.

She pulled him into the elevator and pressed the button to the top floor. When the doors closed, she spoke her name and password, then arched her eyebrows at him.

He smiled softly at her, pulling her close and kissing her.

Chloe kissed him back for a moment then pulled away from him, she watched him for a moment then adjusted his shirt. “Deep breath,” she said. 

He arched an eyebrow at that, giving her a questioning look. “Why do I need to take a deep breath?” 

She looked up at the numbers on the elevator then grinned at him as the doors slid open. “Trust me,” she said, squeezing his hand.

“With my life,” he murmured, following her inside and pausing at the sight of the rest of their friends. “What’s going on?” 

“Figured you might wanna celebrate being able to see your favorite people again,” Lois told him as she stepped forward.

He smiled softly at that, moving over to her and hugging her. “Good to see you again. Literally.” 

“We should have yelled surprise,” Bart said with a pout. 

“I’m not sure that’d go well with the whole laying low for a while thing, Bart,” Chloe told him.

Oliver smiled at Bart, moving over to him next. “Good to see you too.” 

“Good you can see us,” AC said as he stepped forward. “And you look better too.”

He held his hand out to AC, shaking his hand and then giving him a hug. “Thanks, man.” 

“We brought food too, and I even saved you some,” Bart teased.

“Now I know it’s a celebration,” Oliver joked, grinning at him. 

“Of course it is. You got your sight back.” Vic smiled.

“And when are you getting back out there with us?” AC asked. 

Chloe stepped forward and shook her head. “Not for a while.”

“Yeah, it’ll be a few weeks, at least,” Oliver said quietly. “Don’t want to take any risks.” He drew in a breath and let it out slowly.

“It could happen again?” Bart asked with a frown. 

“It’s still healing, so it’s better not to chance it,” Chloe explained.

“Emil said another head injury could make it worse and possibly permanent if it’s not completely healed first,” he added.

Lois frowned, looking worried as she glanced at Chloe. “Then take your time recovering.” 

“Personally I still think locking you into a bubble sounds acceptable,” Chloe teased, smirking at him.

“You wouldn’t be able to resist letting me out,” he teased back, smirking, too.

“We’re standing right here, you know?” Lois reminded the two of them then wrapped an arm around Oliver’s shoulders. “And by the way, you and I need to talk.”

Bart frowned in confusion and looked over at AC.

AC looked confused, too, and he shook his head a little, baffled. 

“We do, but this probably isn’t the best time,” Oliver told her, glancing at her sideways. 

“I completely agree,” Chloe told Lois, arching her eyebrows and giving her a pointed look. She hadn’t exactly told Oliver that Lois had figured it out. 

“What’s going on?” Bart asked.

Oliver pursed his lips, glancing at Lois again, then over at Chloe. “Long story,” he told Bart, arching his eyebrows.

“Not really _that_ long...” Lois teased.

“ _Lois_ ,” Chloe said firmly, frowning. 

AC rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and shook his head. “Anyone know where Dinah is?”

“She said she wasn’t going to make it, dude.” Bart shrugged. “I’m getting some food.” 

Chloe glanced at Ollie with guilt then took a deep breath and nodded. “Food sounds good, why don’t you sit down?”

Oliver nodded, too, moving over to sit down on the couch.

“What did you guys get?” Chloe asked, following Bart into the kitchen.

“Pizza and tacos,” he told her with a grin, picking up a slice of pizza and taking a big bite.

“A great mix in Bart world,” she teased, making a plate for herself and one for Oliver. 

“Exactly.” He watched her for a moment. “He’s really doing better?” 

“He is,” Chloe told him quietly. “I think that now that he’s not afraid he won’t have his normal life again, everything is a lot easier to deal with.”

“Makes sense,” he agreed, nodding and taking another bite.

“He’ll be fine,” Chloe promised Bart with a smile. “Now let’s get back in there, I’m not leaving you alone with the food.”

“Ouch. I wouldn’t eat it _all_. At least not without getting more.” He grinned.

“Uh huh, I know you,” she grinned, starting out of the kitchen with him then taking a seat next to Oliver on the couch. “Choice of tacos and pizza, I’ll let you guess who picked the food.”

He smirked at that, looking over at Bart, not the least bit surprised. “I’ll take pizza.” 

She nodded and held one of the plates out to him then set the other one on her lap. 

“Thanks,” he told her with a soft smile, glancing at her.

“No problem,” she said quietly, smiling back at him.

“I get it now.” AC smirked across the room, glancing at Bart.

“Get what?” Bart asked him, confused once again.

“Look at them. Look at their body language,” he said, nodding toward Chloe and Oliver on the sofa.

Bart watched the two of them for a moment then frowned. “Wait, you think they’re...”

He grinned broadly. “Oh yeah.” 

Frowning more, he kept his eyes on them for a moment longer then nodded when he saw Ollie kissing Chloe’s forehead. “I guess so.”

“Can’t say I saw that one coming.” 

“Me neither,” Bart said, pouting a little. “But bossman is the one who always gets lucky.”

“Didn’t you say something about having a crush on Mia?” he asked, arching his eyebrows.

“Why do you think Ollie sent her to Star City?” Bart asked, arching his eyebrows back at AC.

AC’s eyes widened. “He knows you can get anywhere in about two seconds, right?” 

“Well, okay, maybe it was for school and to keep her away from the Kandorians and stuff, but still.” He shrugged. “Bet he knew she wouldn’t resist if I was around.”

He looked at Bart skeptically, then shook his head, looking back at the pair on the couch. “Well, they seem happy.” 

Bart watched them for a second then nodded. “Yeah, haven’t seen Chloe looking like that in a while. Or Ollie, I guess.”

AC nodded, too. “Come on. I’m gonna kick your ass at Halo.” 

“Man,” Bart shook his head and set his plate down. “You’re gonna pay up in pizza, you’ll see.”

“Bring it on, Shortie,” he responded with a smirk.

Chloe looked up as they headed to the other portion of the living room. “Well, they’re starting early,” she commented as they set up the video game.

“I think we bored them,” he told her with a small smile, shrugging. 

“What else is new?” She asked, glancing at where Lois was talking to Victor about effective ways to hack into things. “That conversation sounds dangerous.”

He smirked at that, arching his eyebrows. “I think Lois just found her next secret source,” he joked, finishing his piece of pizza and setting the plate aside. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Looks like she has, it’s reassuring that Vic has a good head on his shoulders,” she said quietly, holding her breath as she looked over at Oliver.

“Is this okay?” he asked softly, uncertain. 

Holding her breath, she nodded a little and smiled at him. “Yeah, I guess it’s kind of obvious anyway.”

“Well, to Lois anyway, apparently.” He arched his eyebrows.

“Right.” She shifted a little to look at him. “She kind of figured it out when you were at the hospital.”

Oliver shrugged a little, watching her intently. “Doesn’t bother me.” 

“I kinda figured it wouldn’t, but you know Lois. She’s been threatening to have a talk with you since you were unconscious so...” 

“I consider myself warned,” he assured her, pressing a kiss to her temple.

Chloe relaxed a little and nodded. “At least I know you know what to expect from her.”

“Lois doesn’t scare me.” He paused. “You know. Much.” 

She laughed and nodded a little. “Much, that’s better. You know some fear is pretty healthy.”

The corner of his mouth lifted and he pulled her closer, resting his head against hers.

Chloe relaxed and smiled up at him, holding his gaze. “Love you,” she whispered quietly.

“I love you, too,” he whispered back, lifting a hand to her cheek.

She leaned into his touch and nodded a little, then took a deep breath. “This is nice, having everyone here.”

He kissed her softly, nodding in agreement. “Yeah. We should do it more often.” 

“They really wanted to see you,” she admitted. “And I figured it’d be good for you, too.”

“Well. I call it a raging success,” he told her with a smile. “And later...we can celebrate privately.” He grinned.

“Agreed.” She brushed her lips against his then pulled away. “For now, we should probably pay more attention to your guests, though.”

Oliver sighed, though he was still smiling. “Let’s go.” He rose to his feet, holding his hand out to her.

She took his hands and stood up, arching her eyebrows. “You, helping me up? Weird,” she teased.

“Very cute,” he teased back, tugging her closer to him.

She grinned a little and slid a hand into his before nodding. “C’mon, let's be social and then kick them out,” she joked.

“Lead the way, Professor,” he told her, squeezing her hand, his eyes bright.

She squeezed his hand back and smiled as she made her way over to Lois and Victor. She thought she was going to feel a lot more uncomfortable with coming out of the closet to their friends, but the truth was, it just felt natural.

Victor noted the two of them holding hands, but didn’t say anything about it, just smiled at them.

Oliver smiled back at him, then looked down at Chloe once more. He had a feeling that whatever the future held, they’d be just fine as long as they stuck together.

~The End~


End file.
